Talk:Floating signifier

The link to Abserswyth University's website is broken (404 error). Cyclostome (talk) 03:37, 17 September 2019 (UTC)

Empty and floating signifiers are not synonymous

Earlier, 141.51.21.160 made an edit noting that "empty signifier and floating signifier are not the same." He added the cryptic rationale that "Empty signifier is the successful outcome of a floating signifier" which I agree with though I think there are better ways of elaborating for broader audiences.

The oxford reference citation that supports the idea that the two terms are synonymous is a quote from Oxford dictionary of critical theory which I have also cited in the article. I think what Buchanan (the author) is pointing out that they are often used interchangeably. Laclau himself noted that in practice the distinction between the two terms do become blurred. However, multiple authoritative sources including Laclau himself make it clear that they are conceptually distinct. For this reason I have quoted directly from Laclau and from an interview of Laclau at length due to the difficulty of the concept.

I think Moraes did a good job, but perhaps an expert in critical theory or semiotics is aware of a better source which succinctly explains the distinction in a manner comprehensible to non experts in the field. J JMesserly (talk) 00:22, 26 April 2021 (UTC)

To expand on that Laclau distinction, I will make a brief addition to the lead pointing to Laclau's separation of the two wordings. Alexandre Hocquet (talk) 13:48, 22 February 2022 (UTC)

Done, plus removed an incorrect ref to Levi Strauss. Alexandre Hocquet (talk) 13:55, 22 February 2022 (UTC)